Toadal Annihilation

For decades these poisonous cane toads have plagued Australians, breeding hastily, eating voraciously and bestowing death upon most animals that dare to consume it. Australians solution: Toad-Day-Out, which is to hold a festive mass killing of the creatures and turn their corpses into fertilizer for the same farmers who initially battled the toads for years.

The toads were imported from South America to Queensland in 1935 in a failed attempt to control beetles in sugar cane plantations. However, the toads couldn't jump high enough to eat the beetles who lived on top of the sugar cane stalks. It seems like Australia experienced a complete boomerang effect with this idea. This may seem likely to occur when you mess with the almighty Mother Nature. Now Australia's Toad-Day-Out is in a sense "celebrating" their mistakes with an annual day to exterminate these pests.

Australia: A Dying Language?

When British settlers first arrived to Australia in the late 18th century some 200 Aboriginal languages were spoken. Of those 200 about 50 are now extinct, 100 are dying and some-odd 50 are inactive first-language use, more-so along the north coast of western and central Australia. English is the first and only language of some 83 % of Australia's current population. Minority languages during the 19th century included Chinese in goldfield communities, German in a Lutheran settlement in South Australia, and Gaelic and Welsh in rural families.

To get an idea of how serious these dying languages are, it is reported that of the withering Mati Ke language of aboriginal peoples of Australia's northern coast along the Timor Sea only 3 speaker remain. That's right just 3 people in the world still speak this language. Of the 3 people, 2 are brother and sister and are forbidden by their tribal custom from speaking to one another after puberty. So 2/3 of the people who are knowledgeable of the language are forbidden to speak it? I see. And the third does not live in the area and speaks a completely different dialect of the language. Therefore, of the 3 speakers remaining, their is virtually no common interaction and ultimately no one to pass the language to. It is unbelievable how a language of the world becomes extinct about every 2 weeks or 14 days. There are less than 7,000 languages spoken today, half of them bearing no written form to look back on. Some may say this is partly due to the overbearing dominant language such as the English language. The question of the matter is, "Should anyone care?" and if so, "What could be done to save these dying languages?"


The word "LOVE" in 28 different languages

Australia's Overseas Students Intake Not Affected by Harsh Economy

When times are rough, Australia's recuitment of overseas students is still on the rise. With the latest statistics recording growth of 21.4 % higher over the same time last year, Australia continues to defy the global downturn. Surprisingly this number is on the rise including that the figures for the key month of March commencement period have not be released as well. China was the biggest contributer, which had more than 70,000 students enrolled in Australian universities, colleges and schools in January, followed by Indoa with just under 60,000 students. Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard described the growth as encouraging and showing the strength of a local industry worth $14.2 billion a year. The vocational education sector, which has campaigned strongly overseas in recent years, continued to record the best, up 46.3% compared to the same time last year.

Aussies Suffering from Loneliness :(

Don't we all feel lonely every now and then? Apparently loneliness is a significant problem amongst Aussies. In a recent study, marriage benefits men more than women and single men are lonelier than single women. I can see the same results appearing here, in the United States. The Australian Unity Well being Index covered 2,000 people and focused on the link between well being and loneliness and money and debt. It said the well being loss associated with loneliness is most pronounced for males but that people who live with partners are the least lonely. I don't even have to be in Australia to realize this could took place anywhere.

It seems that men who are single struggle more to find that certain someone, while females who are single have men approach them about dating, potentially on a regular basis. The results also stated that men who never married, were separated or widowed are significantly lonelier than females in the same circumstances. The report said just over 30% of participants recorded their level of loneliness at or above the average score of 40, which indicated an average loss of well being. On the money side, men from households which earn less than $60,000 are significantly lonelier than men with a household income of $100,000 or more. I know that if I had an income above 6 figures, well yeah I'd be rolling in the dough and yeah that would make me a lot happier :)

Australia's Wealthiest Resident is an American

The richest person residing in Australia is an American heiress that you are most likely not familiar with. Ms Parry-Okeden, is an American heiress, who lives in the town of Scone, whose fortune is tied to her 25 per cent stake in Cox Enterprises, a giant US media company founded by her grandfather James Cox. The 58-year-old former school teacher, inherited the stake in Cox when her mother, Barbara Anthony Cox, died in 2007. Ms Parry-Okeden was shot to prominence yesterday after being named as the word's 110th richest person in the annual Forbes list of the world's billionaires. She has no involvement with running the company, which owns 15 newspapers, 17 television stations and 86 radio stations. Her place on the Forbes rich list has been raised 44 places - to 110 - by the decline in the wealth of Australia's previous richest person, the mining entrepreneur Andrew Forrest. The financial crisis has trimmed the ranks of Australian billionaires and more than halved their fortunes. Only but 10 Australians have made it onto the annual Forbes list of the world's US dollar billionaires, down from 14 last year. Overall, their total combined fortune has weakened from $US 38.4 billion ($60 billion) to just $US 16.2 billion.

Australia Back round: Geographic Perspective

This is to give everyone more insight on Australia as a whole and its general make-up. First and foremost, Australia is divided into 6 states: New south Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, including 2 territories; the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.


It is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the world's smallest continent and numerous islands in the Southern, Indian and Pacific Oceans. The continent of Australia has been inhabited for over 40,000 years by Indigenous Australians. The current population of over 20 million is concentrated mainly in the large coastal cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. The capital of Australia is Canberra.

Raw Footage: Wildfires Engulf Australia




The death toll from the bushfires in southeastern Australia has risen to 210, according to police in the state of Victoria, this past Tuesday. At least 2,029 homes have been destroyed in the blazes, according to Australian news outlets. Victoria police are still working to identify all the victims of the fires that have raged earlier this month. As of late Tuesday, there were still seven fires ablaze, the County Fire Authority said, and several still posed a threat to residents.

Teeny Bikini at the Center of Piracy Claims

Supermodel Miranda Kerr is in the midst of piracy claims. The swimsuit company Seafolly has launched Federal court action against a company it alleges stole the bikini pattern for its Zambezi range. Modelled by Kerr in its 2007 catalogue, Seafolly says the Zambezi pattern is a tribal-style design it has owned since 2006. The claim was filed last week by Seafolly alleging Sydney company Australian Downtown Marketing (ADM) sold copies of the bikini which were marketed under the Mooloola brand. It is the third time in four years that Seafolly has launched legal action against alleged knockoffs. Seafolly said it bought the Zambezi design from Sydney textile designer Longina Phillips in 2006. After purchasing it, Seafolly then simplified the design and printed it into fabric for use in the Zambezi range which included, bikinis, singlets, dresses and a kaftan. City beach, who owns the Mooloola brand, told Seafolly it had ordered stocks of the swimsuits, but they were "returned to its Chinese manufacturer as they were considered defective." What does Seafolly want out of the lawsuit? Seafolly wants a declaration that ADM has infringed its copyright, an order stopping them from doing it again, and all supplies of the fabric used to make the Mooloola suits and the profits from selling the togs.